The food of love or whatever
Musical books, both fiction and non.
I’m reading three massive tomes at the same time because I planned poorly/went with my heart, so I’m dipping into my archive for these!
🎙️ A Little Devil in America
Hanif Abdurraqib, 2021
OK, it’s not entirely about music, though much of it is, or is at least music-adjacent. Connected essays about Black performers in America—Josephine Baker, Whitney Houston, Dave Chappelle, to name a few—with a dash of memoir. I didn’t even think I liked essays much, but this book (the title of which is based on a Baker quote) was gripping and charming and heart-wrenching and super voicey. Those are things I do like!
ALDIA is probably the best non-fiction I’ve read in a long time. The only annoying thing about it is that I kept wanting to stop and pull up YouTube videos. Basically what I’m saying is, get this optioned into a cool documentary, Hanif!
Recommended to: Those who like music, dance, movies… entertainment fans, is what I’m getting at.
🧼 Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell, 2012
I think it’s hard to write about music, especially in fiction. For whatever reason, fictional books about musicians that describe their music in detail make me cringe (one of those cringey band books is a later David Mitchell book that references Cloud Atlas because he’s created a whole universe. That’s fine! But I have learned in this case to stick with the original). Cloud Atlas is only partly about a musician—really it’s multiple connected stories, and the concept is that they’re six open books physically laid on top of each other. One of those books features a composer who I have never forgotten and sometimes forget he isn’t real.
The official description calls it a sci-fi novel, and… I guess? Part of it takes place in the future, and things connect past to future in a gloriously weird way. But there’s plenty of other stuff going on, too. I’ve never read a book like it, and that’s a sort of magic right there.
Recommended to: Those who like Kazuo Ishiguro, old-fashioned English, future English (!), regular old English, music, and having to sort things out on your own.
Recommended format: I’d say print—you may need to flip back and forth when things start to get weird. I bet the audiobook has a lot of cool voice talents involved, but it’s harder to go back and reorient yourself with something so linear.
🍕 The Beastie Boys Book
Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz, 2018
HALT. You do not have to be a fan to proceed with this paragraph. I mean, you should strongly consider being a fan unless you hate fun, which maybe you do!
Like the 1998 album Hello Nasty, this book is a sure shot: The NYC music scene in the 1980s! LA in the 90s! The weirdness of trying to evolve as a band! Recipes! Reviews! Costumes! An essay by their former drummer, in which she tears them to pieces for ditching her in a super sexist terrible way! A tribute throughout to late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, aka MCA, who convinced these young dopes that they needed to right a lot of wrongs! It’s brutally honest (“we know this one album sucked and here’s why”) and extremely entertaining. I loved it, and never wanted it to end.
Recommended to: Those who like the above things.
Recommended format: I hate to do this to you, but you should really get both the print and the audiobook. It’s very multimedia and they did a bang-up job making this really pop on both formats, which have different aspects to them. The audio is read by all sorts of people, including Jon Stewart, Kate Schellenbach (the drummer who they ditched), and… Bette Midler!? But then in the hard copy you get a ton of pictures, so what I’m saying is, give them some wood and they’ll build you a cabinet. For all the books I’m making you get. (But also don’t bother with the e-book, that won’t do it justice).
And now, a bonus recommendation
A Giacometti Portrait — James Lord, 1965
Recommended to: “Anyone who lost all confidence in the thing that they do. This is a short book of the author surreptitiously chronicling what it was like to be painted by Alberto Giacometti. It might be the only book I’ve read more than twice. Its 117 pages reveal the Swiss artist as deeply doubted his artistic abilities, even as critics the world over gave his shows raves. His daily expressions of struggling with the painting are a wonderful reminder that even the most talented people think their work is shit, when it’s actually really good.”
Recommended by: My pal David, who has told me on prior occasions that he hates reading emails, so that just makes his subscription even sweeter. He’s into the New York Times crossword, his adorable dang baby, and most recently loved The Girl from Kathmandu, Giraffes Can’t Dance, and Press Here.
Thanks for helping me decide what to keep (Pema Chödrön) and what to not bother with (parenting books zzz) last week. Next week: another reader’s Dusty Stack!
That was the seventh EELS! Did you know that if you read while you brush your teeth for two minutes every morning and evening, that adds up to more than 24 hours a year?? You better believe that, as a big dental hygiene/book enthusiast, I have been all over that for years. Send any and all questions, feedback, and shouted book recommendations to me by hitting reply!
– Susan